The invention relates to a sliding and lifting roof for vehicles with a rigid cover for closing an opening in a fixed roof surface, in a closed position, and which cover may be selectively lifted above the fixed roof surface at the rear edge or, after lowering of its rear end, slid rearwardly below the fixed roof surface. A sliding canopy or cover liner panel is provided that, at least partially, participates in the movement of the cover.
A sliding and lifting roof of this type has been known from the U.S. Pat. No. 3,960,404. One defect of the known arrangement is that in the case of the cover being lifted, the mechanisms located at both sides of the roof opening become at least partly visible. This is undesirable among other things for esthetic reasons.
To be sure, it has been known (German Offenlegungsschrift No. 33 08 065) to attach shields made of flexible material at both sides of the cover of a lifting and sliding roof so that whenever the cover is opened, the view of the raising mechanisms will be blocked. In that case, we are dealing, however, with an accordion-like folded bellows or with a strip of plastic clamped firmly at both its longitudinal edges on the cover sliding canopy which cannot be raised. Both solutions require a relatively large installation space in the direction running transversely to the sliding direction of the cover. In addition, undesirable deformation of the shields may occur under the influence of shocks or the like.
A transfer of this arrangement to a roof having a sliding canopy which may be at least partially raised, consequently, would be problematic, if not impossible due to a lack of installation space.
The invention, therefore, has a primary object of further developing a sliding and lifting roof of the initially mentioned type in such a way that, also, in the case of an at least partially raisable sliding canopy inside cover lining panel, the lifting mechanisms will remain invisible. At the same time, the arrangement should be made such that it will only use a particularly small amount of space in the direction extending transversely to the sliding direction of the cover. This object is achieved, in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the invention through the fact that a flexible screen is provided for covering up of the gap between the lateral edge of the sliding canopy which may be lifted and a guide part that participates in the sliding movement, but not the lifting movement, of the cover. A flexible screen is located at each side of the sliding cover liner panel which screen is stretched around the lateral edge of the part of the sliding liner panel which may be pushed out and/or is guided around the guide part, and is held taut by means of a tensioning arrangement in every position of said part of the sliding roof.
The taut, flexible screen requires a minimum of lateral installation space. Even under the influence of vehicle shocks, it maintains its position as provided and thus, maintains protection against the hidden mechanisms becoming visible. Because the screen is held taut continuously, at the same time it contributes to accident safety because it will prevent, for example, that children will reach into the lifting mechanism.
In a preferred additional feature of the invention, each of the screens is fixed with one of its longitudinal edges on the respective guide part; the tensioning arrangement, at the same time, is disposed on the upper side of the raisable part of the liner panel and is connected with the other longitudinal edge of the screen which is guided around the lateral edge of the part of the sliding liner panel. The clamping arrangement may, in this way, be housed particularly simply in a space-saving manner that is invisible from the inside of the vehicle. A constructive and particularly elegant solution will be obtained, whenever each of the screens is wedge-shaped and the clamping arrangement has a spring wire coupling with a leg on which the other longitudinal edge of the screen has been attached and which in one position is pretensioned in a resilient manner in which it forms, with the adjoining lateral edge of the raisable part of the sliding roof, an acute angle opening rearwards essentially in the plane of the part of the sliding liner panel. With such a spring wire coupling, one will be able to hold the screen uniformly taut in practically every position. The spring wire coupling, on its part, requires only very little installation space.
Effectively, the spring wire coupling has a leg extending essentially transversely to the shifting direction of the cover, which leg is attached to the raisable part of the sliding liner panel close to its forward edge.
At the rear end of the part of the sliding headliner panel, a lifting bracket, extending beyond the rear part of the one leg in the closed position of the cover, may be attached so as to form a stop for that leg.
The flexible screen may consist basically of any desired material which has sufficient flexibility and durability. Preferably, the screen is made of cloth.
In the case of the guide parts, drag links may be used which connect a rear part which cannot be raised with the front end of the part of the sliding roof which may be raised, similar to the connecting rods of U.S. Pat. No. 3,960,404.
These and further objects, features and advantages of the present invention will become more obvious from the following description when taken in connection with the accompanying drawings which show, for purposes of illustration only, several embodiments in accordance with the present invention.